The Russian Chukchi

Home , Chukchi Sea

FRONTIER EXPLORATION The Russian Chukchi Sea © NOAA With little seismic data, and no wells, the assessment of The Chukchi Sea belongs to the Arctic Ocean and In 2006, TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company acquired 3600km of multi-client 2D seismic in the Russian the Russian Chukchi Sea depends largely on field work is bounded to the west by the Wrangel Island and and outcrop studies on the Chukotka Peninsula on the East Siberian Sea, to the south by northeastern Chukchi Sea in cooperation with Geophysical Solutions Integrator. The Chukchi Sea has an average northeastern shore of Siberia and the Wrangel Island in the Siberia and northwestern Alaska, to the east 2 Chukchi Sea. Here we see carbonates with minor clastic of by the Beaufort Sea, and to north by the Arctic water depth of 77m and comprises some 600,000 km when including the American part. The sea is Carboniferous age. Wrangel Island, Tsentran’nye Moun- continental slope. The Chukchi Sea sedimentary Photo: Vladimir Verzhbitsky navigable between July and October both eastward and westward from the shallow Bering Strait. tains, Khishchnikov head river. basins all lie on the North American plate. Southern flank of the North Chukchi basin 0.000 0.000

Miocene-QuaternaryMiocene-Quaternary

1.000 1.000

Paleocene-OligocenePaleocene-Oligocene

2.000 2.000 LowerLower Cr CrCretaceousetaceous Upper Oligocene Oligocene (~24 Ma) (~24 Ma) (Aptian-Albian)-(Aptian-Albian)- Unconformity (?) (?) UpperUpper Cretaceous Cr Cretaceous

3.000 3.000

Mid-BrookianMid-Brookian (Early(Early Tertiary, Tertiary, Paleocene,Paleocene, ~65-60 ~65-60 Ma) Ma) UnconformityUnconformity

4.000 4.000

5.000 5.000 SilurianSilurian (?)-Devonian(?)-Carboniferous- (?)-Devonian(?)-Carboniferous- LowerLower Cretaceous Cr Cretaceous (Neocomian) (Neocomian) Buried Northern termination of Wrangel Arch Lower Cretaceous Unconformity (~130-125 Ma) Southern flank of the North Chukchi basin 36 GEO ExPro May 2008 Lower Cretaceous GEO ExPro May 2008 38 Buried Northern termination of Wrangel Arch Unconformity (~130-125 Ma)